As part of “Media Watch on Hate Speech” project, the report examining children’s representation in media was presented in a panel held on December 24 in Havak Hall.

The panel started with the presentation of Ezgi Koman, who works in the field of children’s rights, on the notions of child and childhood, and children’s rights in general. Emphasizing that children’s rights are human rights, Koman pointed out the universality of children’s rights by mentioning the development of the notion of children’s rights. Talking about media’s influence in guiding the social perception of children, Koman stated that media’s notions of child and childhood reinforce or restructure the existing perception. After stating that media’s coverage of children is insufficient and this insufficiency generates stereotypes of children, Koman noted that a media practice respecting children’s rights is a responsibility and emphasized that enabling children’s participation in media is crucial for creating a media practice respecting children’s rights.

Speaking after Ezgi Koman, project researcher Şeyma Özkan shared the findings of the report “Representation of Children in Turkish Print Media” covering June 2018. Özkan stated that the report analyzes children’s representation in media and the research was guided by two questions: what are themes of the stories on children and how children are presented in print media. Telling about the categorization that was made in accordance with dominating qualities of the texts and discourse about children on the basis of these two questions, Özkan presented some example texts and analyses of them. She stated that children are generally featured in violent stories, incidents in which they are in danger, and news concerning education, arts and sports in print media. She also added that tragic aspects of the incidents are generally highlighted and children are represented as dramatic objects.